The Bodhisatta solving this question uttered the second stanza:

If no evil in thy heart
Prompts to deed of villainy,
Shouldst thou play a passive part,
Guilt attaches not to thee.

The partridge on hearing this uttered the third stanza:

"Lo! our kinsman": thus they cry,
And in crowds they flock to see.
Am I guilty, should they die?
Please resolve this doubt for me.

[66] On hearing this, the Bodhisatta repeated the fourth stanza:

If no sin lurks in the heart,
Innocent the deed will be.
He who plays a passive part
From all guilt is counted free.

Thus did the Great Being console the partridge. And through him the bird was freed from remorse. Then the fowler waking up saluted the Bodhisatta and took up his cage and made off.

The Master, having ended his lesson, identified the Birth: "At that time Rahula was the partridge, and I myself was the ascetic."

Footnotes

^43:1 No. 16, Vol. i.